bela_lugosi Hexaglot Senior Member Finland Joined 6455 days ago 272 posts - 376 votes Speaks: English, Finnish*, Italian, Spanish, German, Swedish Studies: Russian, Estonian, Sámi, Latin
| Message 73 of 346 06 November 2007 at 6:09pm | IP Logged |
Mandarin - it sounds ugly and is way too difficult.. :)
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kinoko Tetraglot Senior Member Japan Joined 6637 days ago 103 posts - 109 votes Speaks: Italian*, English, Japanese, Spanish Studies: German
| Message 74 of 346 06 November 2007 at 6:19pm | IP Logged |
esperanto
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Alfonso Octoglot Senior Member Mexico Joined 6862 days ago 511 posts - 536 votes Speaks: Biblical Hebrew, Spanish*, French, English, Tzotzil, Italian, Portuguese, Ancient Greek Studies: Nahuatl, Tzeltal, German
| Message 75 of 346 06 November 2007 at 7:55pm | IP Logged |
Any extraterrestial language, unless I have a close encounter of the third kind! :)
I like all the languages, but I also need to have the possibility to practice them. To learn just for nothing is nonsense.
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quendidil Diglot Senior Member Singapore Joined 6313 days ago 126 posts - 142 votes Speaks: Mandarin, English* Studies: Japanese
| Message 76 of 346 06 November 2007 at 10:53pm | IP Logged |
I find it strange that so many people find tonal languages ugly. Mandarin is one of my native languages so it sounds neutral to me but I'd like to why others find it unpleasant. I do however, also find other Chinese tonal languages slightly unpleasant. I do like the Chinese writing system however, some foreigners might find it hopelessly archaic and inefficient but it is perfectly ideal for Chinese with its analytical nature. Classical Chinese especially is probably one of the most syllable-concise and efficient languages that have been written.
For me, American English would be the last language I'd ever learn. No offence to you Americans but I find your "r"s off-putting; the de-iotacization of the long "u" sound as in 'tube' ugly; and the merger of the vowel in 'cloth', 'dot', 'spot', with /a/ unpleasant.
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Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6769 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek
| Message 77 of 346 06 November 2007 at 11:15pm | IP Logged |
jankagan wrote:
I've always found Russian terrifically ugly...and I really don't like anything with the Cyrillic alphabet. Russian, then anything else using Cyrillic. |
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I love the look of Cyrillic, especially in Soviet-era movies and other materials. It looks like it means business! :)
For me, there are two types of languages I don't want to learn:
1. Artificial languages like Esperanto (no culturally-rooted standard, and no history).
2. Unwritten languages and languages with no literature.
Edited by Captain Haddock on 06 November 2007 at 11:16pm
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William Camden Hexaglot Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 6273 days ago 1936 posts - 2333 votes Speaks: English*, German, Spanish, Russian, Turkish, French
| Message 78 of 346 07 November 2007 at 9:42am | IP Logged |
I'm not keen on artificial languages, with the possible exception of ones based on Latin but minus the complex inflexions, as I find the idea interesting. Esperanto reminds me of Spanish but I would sooner learn the real language.
I knew a member of a small English Communist grouping who was an Esperanto enthusiast. He knew no foreign languages. I had the impression he would have been at home in the overly rational environment of Huxley's Brave New World. I think real, living languages were too messy for him.
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Bartolomeu Dias Groupie United States Joined 6948 days ago 43 posts - 44 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish, French, Latin
| Message 79 of 346 07 November 2007 at 6:19pm | IP Logged |
Klingon!
Edited by Bartolomeu Dias on 07 November 2007 at 6:19pm
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Darobat Diglot Senior Member Joined 7189 days ago 754 posts - 770 votes Speaks: English*, Russian Studies: Latin
| Message 80 of 346 07 November 2007 at 7:46pm | IP Logged |
Captain Haddock wrote:
2. Unwritten languages and languages with no literature. |
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That's the only thing that comes to mind right now that would make me not want to learn a language. I am personally much more drawn to the written language, so a language without one wouldn't be very appealing to me.
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